There was palpable tension as gunmen suspected to be bandits kidnapped the Chairman of Akwanga Local Government of Nasarawa State, Mr. Safiyanu Andaha.
The council boss was kidnapped alongside others, including a renowned philanthropist in the local government, Mr. Adamu Umar popularly known as Maccido.
The victims were abducted along Andaha-Akwanga road on Monday evening, January 1, 2024.
A close aide to the chairman, who preferred anonymity, said that the gunmen appeared from the bush and whisked away the victims to an unknown destination.
“The gunmen appeared from the bush and whisked away the kidnapped victims to yet to be identified destination,” the source said.
Confirming the development, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Ramhan Nansel, said security personnel comprising the police and other agencies have swiftly begun the trail of the abductors to ensure the release of the victims.
Gunmen have been operating in the North-Central and North-Western parts of the country despite the presence of security operatives.
Monday’s incident comes a few weeks after gunmen ambushed a convoy in Rivers, killing four soldiers and two civilian drivers and abducting two Korean workers, according to the police.
Nasarawa, just like Zamfara, is one of several states in northwestern and central Nigeria terrorised by bandits who raid villages, kill and abduct residents as well as burn homes after looting them.
The gangs maintain camps in a huge forest straddling Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna and Niger states.
The country is facing a myriad of security challenges, including a 14-year jihadist insurgency in the northeast that has killed at least 40,000 people and forced more than two million others to flee their homes.
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